Back in October 2020 I listened to a very long, energetic and profound talk by Bogdan Manta, a serial founder, show producer and pitching expert. He gave some useful hints what to do and not to do if you make a pitch into your screen and not in front of an audience present.
Here are some of his recommendations interwoven with my commentaries:
- Be on time! Everybody hates to wait for late or technically unprepred pitchers.
- Your voice matters most. So assure yourself that everyone can hear you clearly by using a microphone instead of yelling at your laptop 15 cm away from the screen.
- Speak in a modulated, natural and non-hasty manner. Change volume and speed where necessary.
- Do it standing up, 1-2 m away from your webcam, so people can see you acting.
- 2 pitchers are better than 1 (my experiece). One for the money, one for the show. Your expert audience loves infotainment!
- Use your hands. But don´t jump around like Steve Ballmer!
- If your room is too small to stand and act, sit at least at the front of your chair in an upright position. That also guarantees the biggest volume to your lungs.
- Use a downtimer to see how much time is left. Being rung quiet by the moderator or cut out by the investor is suboptimal.
- Don´t forget to pause. The audience needs time to digest your thoughts.
- The optics: use interesting backgrounds with some depth so eyes can explore things.
- Use emotion, e.g. by asking personal questions („Did you ever experieced a person that …?“)
- Keep eye contact. Look into the webcam not onto your papers. You are an authentic actor, not a news presenter.
- Learn your pitch modules by heart. Then interrupting questions can´t throw you out of line.
- No jokes at the start. Especially when you are a bad Stand-Up Comedian!
- Build up your credibility (why are you the right person to speak about your topic) in the first 3 minutes.
- At the beginning where there is the highest attention you should also answer the WIIFT question: „What is in it for them?“ – the value proposition for your audience.
- Present online with enthusiasm, you choose the atmosphere of your presentation.
By the way: extroverts talk out of their gut, introverts from their heart. Try to be the latter.
- A wireless clip-on microphone can catch your voice even away from your voice-in speaker. (Loose cables dangling around your face and body are unprofessional!)
- A remote presenter to push on your slides saves you time to haste to your keyboard each time.
- Each pitch is not about you, it is about your participants – they should swallow your case.
- Context is king. Develop smooth transitions between your pitch modules.
- Pronounce names correctly. In case of doubt use pronouncenames.com
- Use physical objects or visual aides in front of the screen.
- If you have no object to show use practical examples.
- Use resounding quotes. At best those easy to remeber, e.g. by using rhetoric tools.
- Reduce your slides and texts on your slides. Less is more!
- Don´t be boring! Pitching follows the rules of showbusiness. You have to perform.
- Never forget the Call to Action at the end.
- Give them time to ask questions. Prepare some backup slides for the FAQs.
- Don´t be afraid to say „I don´t know (yet)!“ This adds to your credibility.
- Hire a clever secretary to put down all questions or record the whole session if allowed.
